Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 07:15:39 AM EST

From liberal Frank Rich in the New York Times, repealing DADT is the right thing to do, and besides, at this point most conservatives know better than to make an issue of it, because the politics, especially among independents, is against them. Look at new Senator Scott Brown, who may be with them on financial issues, but like independent is not on social issues, because after all, in Massachusetts gay marriage is a settled issue.

From conservative Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post, there is no right to serve in the military. The real issue is military effectiveness. DADT is hurting the effectiveness of the military. Besides, her former Marine brother, who used to strongly oppose gays serving openly, now says leave it to the troops. But remember, no one has a right to serve.

And from me? I'm not a columnist. Leaders should lead. DADT was wrong when Clinton was President, it is wrong now. And politically, most young people want to know what all the fuss about gays is about.

Fri Jan 29, 2010 at 10:43:23 AM EST

also posted at the Great Orange Satan

Imagine a political leader saying that. In fact, imagine a conservative political leader saying that. Imagine him saying:

We do need good sex and relationship education. That education should teach people about equality and the sort of country we are - that we treat people the same whether they are straight or gay, or black or white or a man or a woman. It is important that ethos is embedded in our schooling.

You don't have to imagine. It happened. In Britain. The words are from David Cameron, Conservative Party Leader, and the main probably possibly poised to become the next Prime Minister of the UK. You can read about it in this piece in The Guardian.

Once upon a time conservatives in America looked at what the Conservative party in Britain did for their model of what to do, e.g. Maggie Thatcher on privatization. Perhaps we can remind them of that as we suggest they read this article?

Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:58:21 PM EDT

Apparently, the anti-Gay marriage lobby isn't big on producing original material these days.

This morning, Sum of Change was startled to discover that video we shot at Netroots Nation this past August is being featured, unattributed, in a television advertisement for the 'Yes on 1' campaign produced by Stand for Marriage Maine. (We chose not to link to the commercial in question, "They Said", we would prefer if people did not watch it)

Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 16:36:53 PM EDT

Over the weekend, you probably heard about tens of thousands of people standing up for LGBT rights at the Equality March in Washington, DC. It got some decent coverage, mostly on C-SPAN, but for the most part, the MSM really missed the scene. They missed the personal stories attached to this event. Our own Laura Gilbert was there to speak with the protesters.

Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 11:34:27 AM EDT

The district in question, currently held by Rob Bell, includes a very few precincts in C"ville (holding UVa freshman dorms), and spreads across Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Greene counties.
Cynthia Neff, the Democrat running against Rob Bell in the 58th, was asked whether she supports same sex marriage at a candidates' forum on the 12th, and gave the answer below. After years of hearing Democrats equivocate on this issue, trying not to take too strong of a position either way, it is so refreshing to hear a candidate come out strongly on this right side of this issue.

Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 09:22:37 AM EDT

Every two years Virginia elects all 100 members of the House of Delegates. This time the Democrats need to pick up net 6 seats to take control of the House. It is this newly elected House which will participate in the redistricting for the 11 Congressional seat and all 140 seats in the General Assembly. That makes each contest important.

The 13th Delegate District is in Loudoun and Prince William Counties.It is currently represent by Bob Marshall, best known for co-authoring the Marshal-Newman the Amendment to Virginia's State Constitution in 2006, passage of which defined marriage as solely between one man and one woman and banned recognition of anything approximating marriage, i. e., civil unions, being recognized within the state. In Marshall's 9 terms as a delegate he has tended to focus on divisive social issues, also including abortion.

His Democratic opponent is John Bell, a retired Air Force major and current businessman who fully supports gay rights. Perhaps that will encourage you to continue reading?

Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 02:32:28 AM EDT

( - promoted by teacherken)

The forces of the future of Marriage Equality have had a fabulous week.

In Vermont, the legislature made history by overriding a Gubernatorial veto. In Iowa, the State Supreme Court unanimously recognized marriage equality and eviscerated the unconstitutional basis which made it illegal. In Washington DC, the city council voted to recognize same-sex unions ratified in other states.

In the midst of all of this fantastic news, the progressive blogsphere's best statistician, Nate Silver, runs a demographic regression and projects that Virginia will overturn the 2006 hate amendment as soon as 2015.

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